The present invention relates to a collapsible container with a corrugated edge structure for use for example in pushing or sucking the contents out. More particularly, the present invention relates to such a collapsible container having such a corrugated edge structure that can prevent the hand holding the container from slipping along a fringed edge portion of the collapsible container upon pushing or sucking the contents out, so that injury of the hand can be prevented.
There have been used various types of collapsible containers for use in pushing or sucking out the contents, such as water, shampoos, rinses and any other fluid material, which are composed of plural sheets of synthetic resin films, paper and/or aluminum foils laminated by thermal fusion or the like.
Conventional collapsible containers of a type as shown in FIG. 9 for example are composed of a first film member, a second film member, and a bottom film member as a bottom portion thereof, each film member being made of a laminated film, and each film member being joined at its peripheral outer edge portion by thermal fusion or the like. Conventional collapsible containers of a type as shown in FIG. 10 for example are composed of a first film member, a second film member, and first and second side film members each being joined with side edge portions of the respective first and second film members by thermal fusion or the like. In either case, however, the resulting collapsible containers are hard at their joined edge portions, and in many cases the joined edge portions of the container are cut straight at a sharp angle, as if a razor blade, so that the hand holding the container becomes very likely to be cut upon slippage along the sharply cut edge of the container.
In particular, when the collapsible container is to be used in a wet location such as a kitchen or bath room or in a wet condition or when the hand holding the container is wet, the hand may also become very slippery and the hand may slip along the sharp peripheral edges thereof and be cut thereby.
Moreover, when the collapsible container is often stored in a cold or freeze place for use as a container for drinking water or liquid material or sucking the contents out, the container may become wet due to water drops present on the surface thereof so that the hand may also become so slippery that it may be cut and hurt upon slippage along the sharp edge of the joined edge portions thereof.
In conventional cases as described above, the joined edge portion of the collapsible container at which the laminated film sheets are joined together by means of thermal fusion or any other joining process becomes so hard that the edge of the joined edge portion may sometimes become very sharp as if a razor blade. The hand holding the container may often be cut at the sharp edge of the joined edge portion when the hand would slip along the edge thereof due to the container being wet or for other reasons.
Therefore, the present invention has the object to provide a collapsible container with a corrugated edge structure at its edge portion that is less slippery upon pressing the container in order to squeeze water or any other contents out from the inside thereof by pressing it.
In order to achieve the object, the present invention provides a collapsible container having a corrugated edge structure at the edge of a peripheral edge portion thereof, the collapsible container being formed by joining laminated films at their peripheral edge portions by means of thermal fusion or any other means for joining laminated films with each other.
The present invention further provides a collapsible container having its peripheral edge portion joined together by means of thermal fusion or otherwise so as to provide a margin portion outside the joined edge portion, the margin portion being preferably formed with a corrugated fringe at its edge portion.
More particularly, the collapsible container in a mode of the present invention comprises a first film member and a second film member, the first and second film members being each made of a laminated film composed of plural sheets of films and each being substantially equal in size and shape to each other and being joined together at their peripheral side edge portions by means of thermal fusion or any other appropriate means to form a collapsible container with a corrugated edge structure at the side edge portions thereof, which can be filled with water or other fluid contents. The resulting collapsible container is provided at an appropriate location of the joined edge portions with a corrugated edge structure that is arranged so as to prevent the hand holding the container from being cut and hurt at the edge of the joined edge portion thereof even if the hand would slip along the edge of the container.
Further, the collapsible container according to another mode of the present invention has the first and second film members joined together with each other at their top and bottom edge portions and further at their side edge portions with the side film members in substantially the same manner as above to form a collapsible container with a corrugated edge structure at the side edge portions thereof, which can be filled with water or other fluid contents.
Moreover, the collapsible container according to another mode of the present invention has the first and second film members joined together with each other at their top and side edge portions and further at their bottom edge portion with the bottom film members in substantially the same manner as above to form a collapsible container with a corrugated edge structure at the side edge portions thereof, which can be filled with water or other fluid contents.
In a further mode of the present invention, the collapsible container having substantially the same configuration as the collapsible container in the above mode thereof may further be provided with a non-joined fringe portion outside the joined edge portion thereof. In this mode of the collapsible container, the non-joined fringe portion further is preferably provided with a corrugated structure at least partially at its edge in such a manner that the hand holding the container would not be cut and hurt at the edge of the non-joined fringe portion thereof, even if the hand would slip along the fringe portion thereof. In this mode of the collapsible container, however, such a corrugated structure is not required to be formed at the edge of the non-joined fringe portion outside the joined edge portion if the non-joined fringe portion would be soft enough to fail to cut and hurt the hand holding the container even if the hand would slip along the fringe portion thereof.
It is to be noted herein that the xe2x80x9ccorrugatedxe2x80x9d edge structure is not restricted to any specific edge structure and that the term xe2x80x9ccorrugatedxe2x80x9d and related terms are intended herein to mean any edge structure that can prevent the hand holding the container from being cut by the sharp edge of the container even if the hand would slip along the edge of the collapsible container.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the description of this specification that follows, with reference to the accompanying drawings.